Method of drying liquid materials.



D. S. SLEEPEH. METHOD 0F DRYING LIQUID MATEmALs.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

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APPLICATION FILED OC-T. 3. 1912.

Patented Apr. 4,1916.

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l O.S,SLEEPER. METHOD 0F DRYING LIQUID MATERKIALS. l APPLrcATloN FILED ocr. a, 1912 .y 1,178,108. Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

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OLIVER S. SLEEPEB-,OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR. '.l()v BUFFALO FOUN'DRY @a MACHINE COMPANY, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Mnrnon or Danno LIQUID MATERIALS.

Application led October 3, 1912. I Serial No. 723,698. f

To all whom t 'may concern.'

Be it known4 that I, OLIVER S. SLEEPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in. Methods of Drying Liquid Materials, of which the following is a specilication. I

This invention relates to a method of drying or desiccating liquid materials so as to reduce them to' a flakedgranular or powdered condition, this invention being eml ployed for instance in producing dry or .powdered chestnut or other wood extracts,

also dry or powdered glue, milk drugs, foodproducts, &c., by removing the water or moisture from the solid ingredients inthese materials.

One of the objects of this invention is to apply the material to be dried more uni,1 formly upon the surface whereon the same are dried and to increase the amount of the material deposited upon this surface beyond that possible in machines of this character as heretofore constructed and thereby increase the output of the machine and reduce the cost of production accordingly.

Another object ofthis invention is to so construct the machine that the liquidma' terial to be dried is circulated in the most direct manner and with the employment of a minimum length of conduits'and angular connections so that the fullest `eiiiciencyl is obtained by the means whereby the liquid to be dried is circulated in the machine. y

A further' object of this invention is to supply the liquid material to be dried under pressure while confined against the dryin surface so that the same is forced or press against the surface upon which the same is dried and this surface is caused to take up .and dry a larger amount of this material than when this drying surface is only supplied by a stream of the material without pressure or when said surface only dips into a bath or stream ofthe' material to be dried.

In the accompanying drawings consisting of 3 sheets: .Figure 1 is a vertical longiy tudinal section of a drying apparatus which' is constructed in accordance with my invention and whereby my improved processfor drying liquid material may be practised, the section being taken in line 1 1, Fig. 2, but on a reduced scale. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section, on an enlarged Scale, of

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several -views. p

In its' general orgamzation the machine which is shown in the 'drawings and which embodies my` invention and permits of practising my improved process of drying or desiccating liquids comprises a vacuum or drying chamber 1 and a drying or heating drum 2 which rotates about4 a horizontal axis within the drying chamber. The vacuum chamber is preferably formed by an inclosing casing or housing comprising a body 31 constituting the longitudinal sides, topI and bottom of the casing and two heads 3, 4 which are detachably secured to opposite ends of the body. The lower part of the casing isconstructed to form a catch basin or reservoir 5 for the liquid to be dried and a residuum chamber, spout or delivery passage 6 which is adapted to receive the dried product of the liquid. The reservoir and discharge passages 5, 6 are arranged-lengthwise side `by side and separated by an up-` right wall or partition 7, as shown in Fig. 2. At thetop of the casing the same islprovided with a vapor outlet 8 which is adapted to beconnected with an exhausting device of any suitable character for removing the vapors from the interior o'f the drying chamber, this exhaust deviceconsisting for instance of a vacuum pump or condenser or both.

flhe drying drum comprises a horizontal cylindrical body 9 "and two heads 10, 11 securedy to opposite ends of the drum body andprovided with hollow trunnions 12, 13.

which are vjournaled n bearings 14, 15 -on the heads of the drying chamber. Rotation of the drum, in the direction of the arrow 16 indicated in Fig. 2, may be eifectedby any suitable means so that the lower part or side of the drum moves from the dischargepassage to the reservoir. ,The means shown in the drawings for rotating the drumcomprises a driven gear wheel 17 which is secured to the outerv end of the trunnion 13 and which is operatively connected by intermediate gearing with a pulley 18 which re Patented Apr. n, '1.916.

ceives a drivin belt. The heating of the drum may be e ected in various ways, those shown in the drawings being suitable and comprising a stationary steam supply plpe 19 entering the hollow trunnion 13 and a stationary delivery pipe 20 for carrying the water of condensation arranged in the other trunnion 12 and connected with a drain scoop 21 arranged adjacent to the bore of the drum.

The liquid material containing solid matter to be dried is applied to the drum on the underside of the same and then carried over the'top thereof during vwhich movement the moisture in the solid elements of the material is eliminated by the heat of the drum`l while the solid ingredients cling to the periphery of the =drum. The liquid to be dried is delivered to the drum by means of alfeed pan arranged below the drum and comprising a'bottom 22, a rear longitudinal iange or wall 23 rising from the rear longitudinal edge of the bottom and engaging with the periphery of the drum, two transverse side o r end walls 24, 24 arranged at opposite ends of the bottom and also projecting upwardly therefrom into engagement with the periphery of the drum, and a vertically movable gate, valve or front wall 25 which is adjustably connected with the relatively fixed parts of the pan and adapted to have its upper edge arranged separate from the periphery of the drum and thus form an outlet passage for the pan through which the excess liquid which is not taken up by the surface of the drum drops from the pan into the reservoir of the casing.

The preferred means for adjusting the gate l or valve of thepan which are shown in the drawings comprise a plurality of vertical slots 26 formed in the lower edge of the gate, and a plurality of clamping bolts 27 each passing through one of the slots 26 and connecting the gate with a depending flange 28 on the front edge of the bottom of the pan. v

The delivery pan is of a length substantially equal to that of the drum and is mounted on the rear ends of a plurality of vertically swinging rock arms 29 which latter are secured at their front ends to a horizont'al rock shaft 30 arrangedlengthwise in the drying chamber below the drum and journaled at its opposite ends in stuing boxes 31 on the heads of the drying chamber. Upon turning this shaft and its arms in one direction' the panA is swung downwardly away from the drum into a position in which the same may be thoroughly cleaned and maintained in a sanitary condition, while upon turning this shaft and its arms in the opposite direction the pan will be swung upwardly into en agement with the drum. This movement of.gv the rock shaft and the parts associated therewith is deliver' the *liquid from the reservoir to the 1 preferably effected by means of a hand lever 32 secured to one end of this shaft outside of the casing and held in place by means ofl a clamping device 33 while the pan is in engagement with the drum.

Below the pan 1s arranged a horizontal 'longitudinal liquid delivery manifold 34 conduit arranged vertically below the drum and extending through the bottom of the reservoir. At its upper end this delivery pipe is connected with the manifold in such manner that the pan and manifold are free to be raised and lowered for cleaning, inspecting and repairing without disturbing the liquid delivery connections between these parts. The preferred means for this purpose which are shown in the drawings consist in providing the upper end of the delivery pipe 37 with a fixed hollow coupling head 38 through which the rock shaft 30 passes, and a movable hollow coupling head 39 whichlreceives the rock shaft and is' connected by a hollow arm or branch -pipe 40 with the manifold. The fixed and movable coupling heads engage with each other position within the vacuum chamber this g end of this pipe is connected with the front wall or adjacent part of the casing by means of a kbrace which is preferably adjustable and constructed of-two horizontal rods 42, 43 which have their extremities connected respectively with the front side of the delivery pipe at the upper end thereof and with the inner side of the front wall on the casing, and a turn buckle 44 which is connected by means of right and left hand screw threads with the opposing ends of the rods 42, 43, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

45 represents a liquid supply pipe where.- by the liquid to be dried is withdrawn from the reservoir and which extends ldownwardly from the bottom of this reservoir adjacent to the liquid delivery pipe Y37 connecting with the delivery pan. In order to pan as directly as possible and with a minimum number of turns in the course of this l1qu1d a rotary pump is employed the casing 46 of which has its inlet 47 and its out-- let 48 arranged at the top thereof and connected with the lower `ends of the supply and delivery pipes 45, 37, respectively, so that the liquid from the reservoir can descend directly into the cylinder or casing of the pump Without making any turns during this course andl then be ejected or forced by the wings 49 of the piston 50 in the casing or vcylinder of the pump upwardly through the cost, less piping needs attention for keeping the machine clean, and the apparatus is also more-compact as a whole.

VDuring the operation of the machine the liquid to be dried passes from the reservoir downwardly through the supply pipe into the pump casing thence upwardly through the delivery pipe 37 and into the manifold, thence into the delivery pan where a quantity of the same adheres to the outer surface of the drum in the form of a thin film while the surplus flows through the outlet of the pan at the front end thereof and drops back again into the reservoir to be again circulated in the manner .described. The film of liquid adhering to the exterior of the drum as it passes over the pan is dried by the heat within the drum as the liquid passes upwardly on the front and downwardly on the rear side of the latter. Before the dried material on the drum reaches the liquid feeding position this material is removed from the periphery of the drum by a scraper, knife or doctor 5l which projects upwardly' from a position adjacent to the partition 7 -and directs the material into the product receiving chamber or delivery passage, thereby clearing the drum so that the same is ready to receive another coat of undried liquid.

The outlet of the delivery passage may be connected in any suitable manner with a receptacle into which the dried material is delivered, it being understood that this receptacle is of the usual construction and its connection with the discharge passage is of such a character as to permit of maintaining the vacuum within the drying chamber whilethe machine is in operation. In this machine the width of the pan between its front and rear edges is materially reduced so as to obtain the maximum amount of active heating surface of the drum, therebj7 increasing the drying effect of the same and the output of the machine accordingly. By means of the gate or valve 25 the overfiow outlet of the pan may be adjusted or regulated as to size or capacity in order to regulate the pressure in accordance with the requirements of the densities of different materials which may be dried and also to obtain the best results under the different conditions under which the machine may be operated.

ln operating the machine the liquid to be dried is delivered against the heating drum under a pressure by the pump and while the liquid is confined against the drum which pressure varies according to the character of the material being dried, thereby increasing the amount of deposit of solid materials against the drum and exped'iting the drying operation in the saine measure. The pump is operated to produce a pressure upon the liquid or extract While the same is presented by the pan to the drum which enables this machine to .dry a larger volume of liquid material withina given time than has been possible heretofore.

ln order to insure a uniform deposit of the film of liquid on.the surface of the drum i after the latter has been'coated by the pan a spreading device is provided which vpreferably consists of a blade or bar 52 arranged adjacent to the periphery of the drum immediately in front of the pan and mounted by means of arms 5?) on the rock shaft 30.

l claim as my invention:

The hereindescribed method of desiccating liquids which consists in presenting the liquid to be dried under pressure and in the form 0f a continuously flowing stream to the underside of a heated circular drum which latter moves constantly and presents Witness my hand this 1st day of October, 1912.

. OLIVER S. SLEEPER. Witnesses:

ANNA HEIGIS, E. M. GRAHAM. 

